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Healthcare Jobs & Health Care Careers
Massachusetts Health Care Reform from the Front Lines
Aside from the numbers, what has it been like to experience the Massachusetts health care system since 2006?
With a bit of political jujitsu, President Obama could turn a potential health care defeat into a victory for a single-payer health care system -- Medicare for all
The purpose of America's health care industry is to provide cozy income to the few at the top while abusing the poorly paid health aides at the bottom and consigning vast swaths of the population to inadequate care
How to Rein In Healthcare Costs
Medicare and Medicaid are zombie entitlement programs that threaten the U.S. fiscal future
White House Confident of Supreme Court Win on Healthcare
The Obama administration's quick appeal to the Supreme Court in defense of its signature healthcare law clearly displays White House confidence that it will ultimately prevail in the case, experts say. Whether that confidence is well-placed, though, remains a matter of opinion
New Democratic Attack for a New Paul Ryan Plan
As if his earlier proposal to reform Medicare didn't give Republicans a bad case of heartburn, a new health reform scheme from Rep. Paul Ryan to rewrite workplace health insurance and provide universal health coverage through tax credits is starting to give the GOP fits
Many Once-Standard Workplace Benefits Disappearing
Employers have significantly cut many of the benefits they offer to workers over the past five years. Here's a look at the workplace perks that have significantly declined
Why the New Health-Care Law Should Have Been Based on Medicare
Two appellate judges in Atlanta -- one appointed by Bill Clinton and one by George H.W. Bush -- have just decided the Constitution doesn't allow the federal government to require individuals to buy health insurance.
How Health Care Can Save or Sink America
Rising health-care costs are at the core of the United States' long-term fiscal imbalance. It is no exaggeration to say that the United States' standing in the world depends on its success in constraining this health-care cost explosion; unless it does, the country will eventually face a severe fiscal crisis or a crippling inability to invest in other areas
How to Get Retiree Health Insurance Before 65
One of the biggest obstacles to retiring before age 65 is finding affordable health insurance. It takes a considerable amount of effort and can be very expensive for early retirees to purchase health insurance. Here are several ways to maintain health coverage until you qualify for Medicare
30 Ways to Cut Health Care Costs
As more insurers raise deductibles and switch from fixed-dollar co-payments to coinsurance -- which bases out-of-pocket expenses on a percentage of the total costs -- you have an incentive to take more control over how much you spend. Take our advice on how to find the least expensive care without sacrificing quality and you could save hundreds, even thousands of dollars
Healthcare Reform Law Requires New IRS Army Of 1,054
The Internal Revenue Service says it will need an battalion of 1,054 new auditors and staffers and new facilities at a cost to taxpayers of more than $359 million in fiscal 2012 just to watch over the initial implementation of President Obama's healthcare reforms
GOP Falling Into the Same Healthcare Trap That Snared Democrats
The Great Healthcare Battle marches on. The Democrats' single-minded push exacted a toll in both presidential approval points and House seats. Voters wondered why the president and Congress were fixated on health care. But now the GOP seems intent on a rematch, oblivious to the fact that they are in danger of falling into the same blinkered state that entrapped the Democrats
Why Congress Should Repeal and Replace the Healthcare Reform Law
Repealing and replacing the healthcare law is about protecting Americans' health security, making care and coverage more affordable, and taking action so that people don't lose the coverage they have. Everybody agrees that healthcare costs are too high. Everybody also agrees that we need to protect those who are sick and need coverage the most. But when it comes to solutions, the paths diverge
Healthcare Reform Law Repeal Would Be Inhumane
When House Republicans scheduled a vote to repeal Healthcare, I reflected upon a 1966 speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Medical Committee for Human Rights. In that speech, he expressed his concerns about the failings of our healthcare system, stating that, 'Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane'
Preexisting Conditions Common in United States
The Department of Health and Human Services released analysis estimating that 50 to 129 million non-elderly Americans have preexisting conditions. The HHS analysis emphasizes the fact that, under the new healthcare reformlaw, Americans with preexisting conditions cannot be penalized in the form of coverage denial or higher premiums
10 Ways the GOP Can Take Down Healthcare Reform
Republicans won another victory over the healthcare reform law, as a federal judge in Florida declared that a federal requirement to buy health insurance is unconstitutional. He sided with the 26 states that challenged the law, knocking it down in its entirety. With appeals expected, the question over the law's constitutionality will ultimately rest with the Supreme Court. Until then, there's a number of ways the opponents of the law can keep up their fight
Republicans Play Games with Health Care
A funny thing happened on the way to repeal of President Obama's health care reform plan in the House: the vast majority of Americans decided they liked the new plan after all, and didn't want to see it repealed.
After Repeal Vote, Healthcare Reform Fight Goes On
With the Capitol building at their backs conservative GOP House members braced against the icy Washington weather and held an outdoor press conference, urging the repeal of the president's healthcare reform law. But the political theater wasn't for naught, as lawmakers on both sides used the vote to motivate their base and to reset their arguments for a debate over healthcare reform
GOP Attack on Health Care Shows Why Democrats Should Have Pushed Medicare for All
Forget the symbolic vote to repeal health care. Republicans don't have the votes to override Obama's sure veto. The real move happens later, when Republicans try to cut the money needed to implement the law's requirement that all Americans buy health insurance
What Older Americans Stand to Lose if Health Reform Goes Down
The new health care reform bill will be under attack in 2011 in the courts and in Congress. If you're over age 50 but too young for Medicare, you'd do well follow the battles closely. No age group stands to lose more than Americans age 50-64 if the conservative efforts to strangle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in its crib succeed
Public Perception Masks Stark Health Care Realities
Americans are confused about how our health care system compares with those of other wealthy democracies. A great many Americans seem to think we have a top-notch system and that poor sods in other places like Britain, Japan and Australia would just as soon trade places with us if only they could. This mass delusion is a big reason why the health care reform law is not more popular
GOP Pushes for Healthcare Reform Repeal
During the midterm election campaign, Republicans of all stripes united under one promise: to repeal healthcare reform. It was a key plank in the 'Pledge to America,' the campaign platform unveiled by House Minority Leader John Boehner , and it became a rallying cry for Tea Party-backed candidates throughout the country
Bi-partisan Proposal Would End Medicare As We Know It
Seniors who were angry about health care reform and Medicare turned out in big numbers for Republicans in the 2010 mid-term elections. But now, the conservative shift seniors helped produce in Washington could set the stage for something that really is worthy of their wrath: the end of Medicare as we know it
The Right Way to Reform Healthcare
What will happen next on healthcare? Right now, the Establishment seems clueless, and yet fortunately, insurgent Establishmentarians, led by Maria Shriver and Sandra Day O'Connor, are breaking with elite orthodoxy, offering a better healthcare solution
Expect Significant Changes During Open Enrollment for 2011 Health Coverage
Expect to see changes in your health insurance plan for 2011 during your employer's open-enrollment season this fall. Employers will be making some changes to their health-insurance plans for 2011 because of health-care reform -- such as offering coverage to children up to age 26 -- and as a way to help control rising health-care costs
Patients Beware: Hospitals Increasing Requiring Cash Up Front
For years, medical facilities have asked patients to hand over their insurance copayments when they sign in. But recently the business office has gotten more demanding. Many institutions, facing a growing mountain of bad debt, are no longer willing to take it on faith that the bills will eventually be paid and are demanding up-front payments in elective or nonemergency situations
Preventive Care & Electronic Medical Records Guidelines Set
New health plans beginning on or after Sept. 23 will have to provide free preventive care. Grandfathered plans are exempt from the requirements, which were ordered in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
New Website Helps You Navigate Health Insurance
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' HealthCare.gov makes it easy to learn about all of your personal health-insurance options. The site, created in just the 100 days after the health-care-reform law was passed, launched on July 1.
Prepare For the Rising Cost of Long-Term Care
How much is long-term care expected to cost in 20 to 30 years? I'm in my 50s now and am wondering what the price might be to receive care in a nursing home or my home in the future.
The New High-Risk Health Insurance Pool: Common Questions
One of the provisions of the health-care-reform law to take effect is the $5-billion program to provide coverage for people with medical conditions who've been rejected by private insurers. The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a new high-risk pool, was launched in most states on July 1 and is designed to last until insurers can no longer reject people because of their health, in 2014
The Health Care Reform Timeline
On March 23, President Obama signed into law a sweeping reform of the nation's healthcare system. When will the changes that most affect consumers kick in?
Health Care Reform: 10 Frequently Asked Questions
The new health care bill is more than 2,000 pages long -- with hundreds more to come from regulators filling in the details. It will literally take years before all the details are set and everyone can see how the plan will affect their particular situation. But here are 10 commonly asked questions that can be answered now
Health Care Reform and Roth Conversions: Know the Tax Rules
Will health-care reform affect Medicare beneficiaries who convert their traditional IRAs to a Roth?
Two New Medigap Plans to Consider
Two new medigap plans, M and N, will be introduced, and insurers will no longer sell plans E, H, I and J. If you currently have a policy, even if it's Plan E, H, I or J, you can keep it and your coverage won't change. But no matter what plan you have, it may be worthwhile to consider the new plans
Change On the Way for Retiree Health Benefit Programs
If you're retired from a company that provides health insurance benefits, get ready for change over the next few years. Many employers have shed retiree coverage altogether or cut back benefits in recent years due to skyrocketing health care costs. Now, the new health care reform law is stirring up more changes that should start showing up in retiree plans between now and 2013
What Health Care Reform Means for Medicare Drug Coverage
Those with Medicare Part D are among the first who will benefit from health-care reform: They'll receive a $250 rebate check if they reach the doughnut-hole coverage gap in 2010, and the Department of Health and Human Services will provide the first wave of rebates as early as June 15.
How to Find Affordable Long-Term Care
A prolonged illness or chronic condition could end up being one of your biggest retirement expenses. Depending on the level of assistance that you need, there are some inexpensive care options and ways to protect yourself from excessive long-term care costs. Here are a few ways to find affordable long-term care
New Grads and Health-Care Reform
My son is graduating from college this May and doesn't have a job yet. What can he do about health insurance until the health-care-reform law, which permits children to remain on their parents' policies until age 26, takes effect?
The value of employee health benefits will be placed on Form W-2 starting with the 2011 one. Does that mean health benefits will be considered taxable income? And could you please explain the 40 percent tax on 'Cadillac' plans?
Improving Health and Health Care in Rural America
Facing a continued shortage of primary-care physicians nationwide, and an especially tight supply in rural areas and small towns, medical schools are making an effort to recruit students to launch long-lasting careers in rural areas. Although 1 in 5 U.S. residents lives in a rural area, just 9 percent of doctors practice there
Republicans Need a Plan B for Health Care
Should Republicans succeed in their attempt to get the new health care legislation overturned on constitutional grounds, what then? No one wants to see the current chaos of selective health insurance and rising treatment costs continue. The best course for opponents of the law is not only to fight for its repeal, but also have a plan ready to take its place.
Obamacare: The Eye of the Storm
There were some big doings in the nation's capital the other celebratory day. A new health-care bill had been passed at last. Whatever its official title, its unofficial one in the headlines was Landmark Health Care Bill. A festive signing was held in the White House with souvenir pens all around. The president couldn't get through his remarks without being interrupted by standing ovations
Health Care Bill - Aroused Vox Populi
In the aftermath of the stormy fight over health-care reform, the clamor has continued and heads are beginning to roll. The latest and most notable casualty is Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, leader of the anti-abortion forces in the late debate, who will not seek reelection in November.
How the Health Care Bill Impacts Retirees
The health reform bill, signed by President Obama, increases Medicare services and reduces some prescription drug costs for seniors. The legislation also creates a voluntary long-term care insurance program and changes the ways doctors and hospitals are paid for providing services to Medicare patients. Here's a look at how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will impact retirees
Keeping Adult Children on Your Insurance Policy
Parents are peppering their insurers with questions about how the new health-care reform law affects their adult children. The law has two provisions of particular interest to parents. One bars insurers from refusing to cover children under age 19 because of preexisting medical conditions. Another allows parents to keep their kids on their family plan even after a child graduates college
Health Care Reform Overhaul: What Happens When
The 2,400-page health care bill will gradually take effect over the next eight years, with many of the more popular provisions kicking in now, and more of the costs coming later. Here's a year-by-year rundown of what happens when
Older Americans Comment on Health Care Reform
I received several notes from people who opposed health care reform, but are beginning to change their minds. Then, of course, several people called me a liar, a socialist or worse. To coin a phrase: People, can we all get along? Here's a sampling of your questions, comments and rants on health care reform
How Health Reform Will Affect Older Americans
Opponents of health reform used smokescreens to frighten older Americans -- conjuring up everything from death panels to dire predictions of slashed Medicare budgets and totalitarian takeovers of hospitals and doctors' offices. But it's really not nice to scare Grandma. So, now that the smoke is starting to clear, let's consider the important benefits in the new law for people over age 50
What Is and Isn't in Healthcare Bill
More than half of Americans, according to a recent poll, say they still don't know what the Democrats' healthcare bill contains. Here's a cursory look at what's in the legislation that the House of Representatives passed -- and what didn't make the final cut.
Obama Must Now Sell Healthcare to Skeptical Public
It's time for another healthcare blitz. President Obama and Democratic leaders have begun a fresh campaign to persuade voters that the healthcare bill passed by the House will make life better for everyday Americans.
After Months of Debate, No Bipartisanship on Healthcare
On July 27, 1965 Congress was on the verge of passing one of the biggest pieces of social legislation in U.S. history, a bill to ensure the elderly access to healthcare. For more than a year, Republicans, led by Wisconsin's John Byrnes, had fought against it. In fact, many critics of Medicare, as the new program would be called, had denounced the idea as socialist.
Reactions to Historic Healthcare Reform
The true 'vindication' of Obama and his healthcare plan will come with the mid-term elections in November. If the Democrats' losses are minimal, then Obama is vindicated. If the Democrats' losses are significant, it will be a repudiation of Obama and his healthcare
DeMint Launches Healthcare Repeal Effort
South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint has wasted no time getting the healthcare reform repeal movement going. Here's what his office just sent us
Healthcare Reform Only Partial Victory for Women
The final verdict on health care will come a year or more from now when insurance companies raise rates to cover all the newly insured. This, I predict, will not be a happy or historic day for middle-class Americans who are already paying for their own health insurance. Nonetheless, healthcare reform is here, like it or not, and I do want to highlight the pros for Women.
Healthcare Passage Helps Democrats in November
Congressional Republicans have taken such an adamant stand against the Democratic healthcare bill because they fear that passage would hurt their chances to recapture Congress in the fall elections, says White House counselor David Axelrod.
Simply, you have nationalized health care by proxy. Insurance companies are now heavily regulated government contractors. Way to get big business out of Washington and our lives! These giant corporations will clear a small, government-approved profit on top of their government-approved fees.
After 14 brutal months, House Democrats, led by their redoubtable Speaker Nancy Pelosi, stepped up Sunday night to pass comprehensive health care reform. Sadly, not one Republican joined in the measure, as the party continued its consistent strategy of obstruction. It is worth dipping beneath the over-the-top rhetoric of the opposition to remember what is in the bill.
Listening to the final floor speeches that followed put into stark relief the key difference between the two parties. The Democrats, as they had been throughout the yearlong process, were fractious but engaged in the debate about how to best deliver health care reform. The Republicans, on the other hand, were so united in refusal to be a serious part of the process.
Obama's Healthcare Focus Is Misguided
By initiating yet another public debate on healthcare instead of focusing on jobs and the economy, the Obama administration has once again gone off message. Almost every poll shows that the economy is, far and away, the major personal worry for most Americans. Unemployment is the singular issue that they feel demands bold, unrelenting, and detailed attention.
Dennis Kucinich: A Relevant Outsider
Over the last two presidential cycles, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio has been a fly in his party's soup. Not content with seeking its nomination himself as the longest of long shots, he has been Dennis the Menace by constantly reminding its other members of their failure to live up to what they profess to believe in.
Medigap Plans Cooking Up New Alphabet Soup
Insurance companies sell Medigap policies to supplement Medicare's basic coverage. Typical policies cover deductibles and co-insurance for long hospital stays, and outpatient services. Medigap pricing varies by region and policyholder age, but the benefits offered are standardized nationally using a series of alphabetical labels for plan types.
Democrats Threaten Reconciliation After Healthcare Summit
Not only did Obama's healthcare summit illustrate the deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans, it also showed that healthcare legislation is hanging by a thread. The administration might try a scaled back bill or might still push for a comprehensive measure by means of 'reconciliation.'
Lost Your Health Insurance? Some Resources
Anyone suffering a job loss will undoubtedly be looking to save money on healthcare. Here are some ideas to consider if you're interested in finding other health insurance coverage or in accessing more-affordable health care
Obama vs. the Insurance Companies
When it comes to health-care reform, is there a single-payer advocate inside Obama yearning to get out? Despite comments to the contrary, the president is creating that impression in his push his reform bill through Congress over fierce Republican opposition. Obama's all-out assault paints health-care insurance companies as irresponsible, greedy monsters preying on middle-class Americans
One way to look at Obama's late push for health-care reform is as that of a drowning man grasping at straws, as he offers a few more concessions to Republicans, who continue to thumb their noses at him. But if the events of the last days somehow bring about the enactment of the reform legislation Obama seeks, they more likely will be viewed as the culmination of a crafty campaign
Obama Makes Last Push for Healthcare Reform
President Obama has begun his last stand on healthcare. 'Every idea has been put on the table,' he said last week. 'Every argument has been made. Everything to say about healthcare has been said, and just about everybody has said it. I believe the United States Congress owes the American people a final vote on healthcare reform.'
Lessons from Obama Health Care Summit
The clearest message from President Obama's health-care reform summit is that if he wants the comprehensive legislation he seeks, he needs to talk more to his fellow Democrats and less to the Republicans. In practical terms, he must concentrate now on how to cash in on the simple majorities he still holds in the House and Senate, rather than waiting for a change in GOP hearts.
The longest week I ever spent was the six hours I spent watching the health-care summit. The better angel of my nature says that this confab is a wonderful spectacle of democracy. Serious men and women airing serious disagreements in a (relatively) respectful and substantive manner. My more devilish side says that this is a debacle par excellence, the policy-wonk equivalent of a show trial
As President Obama pushes his health care overhaul against Republican objections, the politics are beginning to sound like high school. The president at times lectured to Republicans at his health care summit like a teacher trying to get a point across to hardheaded students. Yet even before the summit various conservative voices were charging 'elitism' and 'condescension.'
Republicans Give Green Light For Reconciliation
The fact that the bipartisan health care summit didn't achieve any bipartisan results should have come as no surprise. Republicans made it clear even before the event, they did not come to play, they came to kill. Four days earlier, President Obama posted his health care proposal online and invited Republicans to do the same. They refused.
The High Cost of Growing Older
No doubt, healthcare will be one of your biggest expenses in retirement. Qualifying for Medicare coverage at age 65 will quell some cost and coverage worries. But although Medicare is far more affordable than private health insurance coverage for seniors, the government health insurance program still leaves retirees with significant out-of-pocket costs.
How Republicans Should Handle Obama's Health Reform Summit
Over Super Bowl weekend, President Obama invited Republicans to join him in a half-day televised summit on healthcare reform later this month. Despite the warnings of some on the right, it's not a mistake to say yes to this invitation. With this healthcare summit, Republicans have a golden opportunity to show their ideas in the best light
Experts speculate about Obama's bipartisan healthcare meeting
Americans are upset about the backroom deals that took place on the healthcare bills. Democrats hope that the health care summit will quiet some of those gripes about transparency. At the same time, the GOP greeted the idea skeptically. Both parties have very strong feelings about healthcare. So the notion that the summit will somehow lead to a bipartisan breakthrough seems pretty wild.
Plain and simple, healthcare costs are rising at an unprecedented rate. They will double in a few years. Lack of healthcare reform means death to the afflicted. This is not what we want for America. We finally have a president willing to take on the job, which his predecessors failed to do for 60 years past. Support President Obama
Bipartisan Healthcare Summit: You've Got to Give a Little
At first it seemed like a great idea. President Obama, fresh from good reviews for his appearance at the House Republican retreat two weeks ago, invited Republican leaders to Blair House in Washington for negotiations on a health insurance reform bill. But the essence of negotiation is in its definition
Singing 'Kumbaya' on Health Care Reform
President Obama has summoned Democratic and Republican leaders for a half-day meeting on Feb. 25 to iron out their differences and produce a bipartisan health care reform bill. Now, as a Democrat and big Obama supporter, I know I'm supposed to bounce up and down with glee. But, pardon my lack of excitement, I think the whole thing's a waste of time ...
Planned Bipartisan Summit Just an Infomercial in Disguise
President Obama has invited congressional Republicans to sit down and talk through health care at a 'bipartisan summit' on Feb. 25. Some think it's a little late for such a conversation. After all, the Democrats have built health care policy from the ground up. So Obama invites Republicans to debate the blueprints. Oh, and he wants to debate them, not change them.
Why Americans Oppose Government Run Healthcare
The British Broadcasting Corp. has an interesting take on U.S. voter opposition to healthcare reform. In an online article headlined 'Why do people often vote against their own interests?' the news service tries to explain white middle- and lower-class opposition to healthcare reform.
Democrats Struggle to Move Forward on Healthcare
Democrats are still trying to decide what to do: push forward, back down, or take a new approach to salvage healthcare reform, the centerpiece of their domestic agenda.
Hospitals are going out of their way these days to make patients feel like they're at home. Here's a logical extension of these efforts: offering hospital-level care at home. That's the premise behind a movement called Hospital at Home. It's already established in parts of Europe. Now, several groups are trying to give it a toehold in the United States.
Scott Brown Victory Not a Referendum on Healthcare
There is clearly tension among Democrats about how to move forward following the loss of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat to Republican Scott Brown. Some have suggested slowing down and re-evaluating; others, noting how much progress has been made toward a bill, have said just the opposite. With Brown's victory, the Democrats now hold only 59 seats in the Senate.
Covering the Cost of Long-Term Care
The popularity of long term health care insurance policies has grown since they appeared in the 1980s -- more than 8 million people now have individual or group coverage -- but consumer advocates and insurance regulators caution that such coverage is not a good buy for everyone. Here's what you need to know about LTC Insurance
Healthcare Reform - It's Not Your Parents' Medicare
Healthcare reform does many good things, but any claims that it protects Medicare and keeps government at bay are nonsense. In fact, health reform will drain Medicare resources, exert tight controls over medical decisions identified as high cost or high volume, and restrict care of older people in the name of prudent social policy.
Democrats Hiding Healthcare Details
Having secret meetings about legislation that will affect every American is unconscionable. Also it makes just one more lie to what Obama promised about transparency
Pelosi Fights for More Low Income Subsidies in Healthcare
Both House and Senate bills would give help to individuals or a family. But the House bill is way more generous, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fighting to see that her chamber, after ceding so much already, wins out on this provision.
Fasten Your Seatbelts: Bumpy Ride Ahead
The country's broken system of health care won't be fixed, but it'll be broken on a much bigger and more confusing scale. Which figures. After all, this unsystematic system has been patched together willy-nilly over the past half-century, one addition and expansion piled atop another without any clear, comprehensive, unifying plan. It's not unlike making a coat out of patches.
The Caring Economy and Healthcare as Human Right
'Health care is a human right, and that every citizen ... should have access to health care, just as every citizen has access to the fire department, the police or public schools.' And for a moment the fog of jargon and compromise lifted and a vision of what's possible hovered over Congress. America could return to the task of creating what economist Riane Eisler calls 'the caring economy.'
Senate Passes Healthcare Reform But Negotiations With House Will Be Tough
Democrats are steeling themselves for the contentious process of melding the Senate and House versions of the bill, with liberal lawmakers warning that they are ready to bargain hard and push back in the wake of a process that left many feeling steamrolled by their more conservative colleagues
Senate Health Care Bill: Leave No Special Interest Behind
The Health care bill took another step toward passage, prompting fresh rounds of public celebrations. Unfortunately, there are three faulty premises at work. First, that those who oppose the bill do so because it's not perfect. Second, that the bill is good. Third is the premise that this is as good a bill as we can get right now, and we can always go back and improve it later.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend vs. Catholic Church on Health Reform
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is urging progressive Catholics to reject an aggressive power grab by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The conference is vehemently opposed to healthcare reform unless the final version contains a considerable expansion of anti-abortion verbiage. The group has lobbied heavily for an amendment to force private insurers to stop providing coverage for abortions if they want to participate in government plans
Congress might resolve to tell the truth in 2010. Most members probably know what truth is, but they cannot speak it for fear of offending groups that traffic in lies and fund their re-election campaigns. Lies usually raise more money than the truth. Which brings me to health care reform. Here's some memorable quotes from the 25-day health care debate. And there are some whoppers.
Why Medicare Part D Is the Answer to Health Reform
Too often it seems as if our only choice is between the status quo and the creation of an expensive new entitlement with politicians defining all the details of our health insurance. In fact, a more viable model for reform exists: the originally controversial, but now enormously successful, Medicare prescription drug program, Part D.
Senate Healthcare Bill a Mixed Bag for Consumers
Politicians know that premiums matter, especially back home, because they can hit constituent wallets hard. But figuring out whether the Senate's healthcare bill will actually keep those costs from rising so quickly is turning out to be even trickier than thought
Understanding Health Reform's Real Impact on Medicare
When critics warn seniors that health care reform will decimate their Medicare, what they're really talking about is the proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage -- the all-in-one private Medicare option. Here's why ...
Government-Run Healthcare Debate
Speaking out for and against the government takeover of our healthcare system and healthcare reform in the United States
Harry Reid Wrong on History and Wrong on Health Reform
There are many reasons why I don't support the proposed healthcare legislation. I worry about how Congress's regulations will drive up insurance premiums, a 'public' option might strangle private health insurance, employer mandates might exacerbate the job crisis, and that ultimately this program will add to our already exploding debt.
Democrats Cave on Health Care Reform
It's being hailed as the 'great compromise' on health care reform. But it should be called the great sell-out. No matter what Majority Leader Harry Reid claims, the compromise agreed upon by Senate Democrats is no public plan option
Health Reform Amendment Upholds Current Abortion Funding Law
Since the House of Representatives passed healthcare reform legislation, one topic has dominated the conversation: federal funding for abortion. I would like to set the record straight: Our amendment maintains current law which prohibits federal funding for abortion
Health Reform Is No Place for an Abortion Fight
When Congress began debating health reform earlier this year, I hoped our focus would remain on the central goal of improving access to affordable, quality healthcare rather than on divisive issues like end-of-life care or abortion. I am a strong supporter of a woman's right to choose, and I make no apologies for my beliefs. However ...
There's No Place Like Home: Elderly Qualify for Wide Range of Services
However independent they hope to be, most adults who grow old at home eventually need help with housekeeping and transportation -- and sometimes with daily activities, such as dressing and bathing
Save the cheers for the looming healthcare "reform." It looks more and more like something that will take us over a cliff. None of the proposals offer credible solutions for reining in the runaway cost inflation that is crippling us.
Congress Needs to Improve Quality of Healthcare
According to Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove, Congress needs to improve the quality of healthcare and focus on a more efficient delivery system. Cosgrove provides more insight and recommendations in this recent interview
Your Future Health Plan: When health reform dust settles few Americans will be unaffected
The healthcare reform details are still fuzzy, but many of the core features have come into focus. Here's a breakdown of features to be include in Congress' healthcare reform package ...
Medicare Advantage Trims Could Affect Millions of Seniors
Medicare Advantage is a highly popular option: More than 10 million seniors have signed up for it nationwide. But it's also become a huge drain on the federal budget, and according to many experts, it poses a growing threat to the financial health of the entire Medicare program. The result ...
Congress Fights Obesity With Healthcare Bills
In 2018, more than half the adults in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, and South Dakota could be obese. That's just one of many alarming projections in a study released last week by Kenneth Thorpe, and it comes, appropriately, as Congress is grappling with how to best reform a healthcare system that is becoming wildly and unsustainably expensive.
Why Americans Should Not Fear Scientific Progress
Science is advancing at a rate so fast that it is difficult to forecast where it will take us. According to Michael Specter, this uncertainty has developed into a widespread fear or denial of scientific progress across the nation. Specter identifies why Americans have grown to mistrust science. He recently chatted with Jessica Rettig about the dangers of resisting vaccines and the value of preventative healthcare
Is a 'Cash Only' or 'Direct Pay' Doctor Right for You
The cash-only model is based on the idea that rather than charging higher so-called retail rates for uninsured patients while negotiating discounted rates with insurance companies for covered patients, it's fairer -- and possible -- to offer reasonable rates to all
Even if health care insurance worries end soon work as engaged informed patients just beginning
True health reform may well take a generation, as the nuts and bolts of a massive new system are sorted out and assembled. But it seems clear that a sea change is coming in the way Americans experience and pay for healthcare. Consider the ways you'll be called upon to manage your healthcare in medicine's new era ...
Healthcare Reform and Patient Choice
Navigating the Annual Medicare Sign-up Maze
Medicare is our only form of health insurance that approaches the simplicity of a European-style single payer system. But it's not as simple as it could be -- especially at this time of year during the 6-week annual enrollment window for Medicare Advantage and Medicare D prescription drug plans.
Immigration Debate Can Wait. Healthcare for All Cannot
Politicians argue that undocumented people should be excluded from the proposed taxpayer-subsidized health insurance exchange. The president agrees, and Senate legislation does exactly this. But the health exchange is a structure, more akin to the Internet and our road systems, not a government benefit.
Taxpayers Should Not Have to Pay for Illegal Immigrants' Healthcare
Americans recognize that extending the full range of benefits to people who have no legal right to be in the country is unjustified and would add billions of dollars to the cost of a healthcare overhaul. Here's Why ...
Daily Calls to Insurer Are Bad for My Health
Over the past few days I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to convince Aetna, my insurance carrier, to pay for doctor-prescribed physical therapy. This has meant phoning the member-service number to coax along an appeal, an almost daily ritual as unpleasant but necessary as prepping for a colonoscopy
Amid heated protests, marathon negotiations and provocative advertising campaigns, U.S. lawmakers vow to change health care as we know it by Christmas. Here's the latest on what the new system might look like
Senior citizens are more opposed to Obama's healthcare plans than any other age group
One of President Obama's biggest challenges this fall will be persuading seniors to accept his healthcare proposals. Many elderly voters are deeply worried about 'Obama-care' because they fear that his plans will reduce their coverage and increase their costs. Seniors, in fact, are more opposed to Obama's healthcare ideas than any other age group.
Obama's Never Ending Healthcare Campaign
On issue after issue, every imaginable political organization, constituency group, and self-styled movement seems to feel it necessary not only to state its case but to wage an election-style campaign to advance its interests. The goal is to mobilize public opinion and take on the opposition, often by using hype, distortion, negativity, and name calling.
To Cut Health Care Costs, Let's Start With the Secret Prices
As President Obama said again in his recent address to Congress, an imperative for health reform is containing runaway health costs. Look at a colonoscopy: When paid by Medicare, the fee is roughly $450. Consumers' ignorance of what services truly cost blurs the connection between their rising insurance premiums and prices, setting the stage for those prices to soar ever higher.
Time for Some Hard Choices on Health Reform: Revenue-neutral is not enough
Cost is the central dilemma facing the ambitious healthcare reform plan of President Obama to introduce a universal, new system of healthcare that will extend coverage to millions of people of limited means. Quite simply, it threatens to break an already fractured bank.
Health Reform Could Get You Hired
If healthcare reform makes insurance much more affordable to individuals and businesses, it could result in a greater variety of career options for workers. For one thing, it would reduce barriers to entrepreneurship. Reform also could make it easier for workers to leave employers to whom they are job-locked, or committed to solely for health benefits--a situation more common to older workers and those with pre-existing conditions.
The Baucus Healthcare Plan: What Small-Business Owners Need to Know
The Senate Finance Committee put forth a new healthcare bill that removes those penalties on businesses. Instead, it offers carrots to employers that provide healthcare, while keeping a few sticks. The bill, associated with its main sponsor, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, seeks to expand insurance coverage through the creation of nonprofit insurance exchanges at the state level. These exchanges will be open to small businesses with up to 100 employees
Individual Mandate Would Be a Healthcare Industry Boondoggle
Only the most blinkered of partisans can look at the "individual mandate" and not see it as the answer to the health insurance industry's prayers. It is a law that forces everyone to buy its product. What industry would not want this. That's what the individual mandate does for the health insurance industry. Not only would it force us to buy health insurance, but the 535 members of Congress, after hearing from every health insurance lobbyist in Washington, would decide exactly what coverage we need.
An Individual Mandate for Health Insurance Would Benefit All
Let's face it, in a country as productive and advanced as ours, every American deserves affordable access to healthcare delivered at the right time. And they don't have it today. It is time for an individual health insurance mandate for a minimum level of health coverage. Catastrophic coverage would be an appropriate place to start.
Healthy Living is the Key to Healthcare Savings
As final negotiations on health insurance reform continue, the debate has centered on achieving three basic goals: more security for insured Americans, affordable and quality insurance for the uninsured, and strategies to reduce the unsustainable growth in healthcare costs. There are many different ideas about how to accomplish these objectives. All agree, however, that the end goal of reform is individual health.
No Such Thing as an Unpaid Bill
My favorites are the few beet-faced droolers who show up at town-hall meetings to rail against government involvement, while simultaneously warning President Obama to 'keep your hands off my Medicare' -- the biggest, costliest, most socialistic government program in U.S. history. It's also a program that happens to work, although not nearly as efficiently as it could.
Lacking Facts and Reason, Health-Care Foes Use Fear
'I'm afraid of Obama!' -- woman at a town hall meeting on health-care reform. I have no opinion on H.R. 3200. Mainly because I haven't read it. Pardon my presumption, but chances are beyond excellent that you haven't, either. The PDF file of the bill, otherwise known as the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, clocks in at 1,017 pages of often-dense legalese and jargon. I'd like to read it, but I'd also like to have a life, and the two are incompatible.
Why Health Care Reform Will Be Good for Medicare
Let's skip past the obvious irony and contradictions at the town halls, and instead focus on a substantive question: Would the health reform bill now taking shape really pose any kind of threat to Medicare recipients? Do seniors have a reason to feel threatened? Absolutely not. Here's why ...
Behind the Rage at Healthcare Town Hall Meetings
This healthcare town hall was only nominally about healthcare. It was really about something else. It wasabout anger and fear. It was about a trenchant sense of disillusionment, resentment, and powerlessness.
Healthcare Is a Precious Commodity That Must Be Used Wisely
We tend to talk about healthcare in the philosophically abstract. 'Is healthcare a right or a privilege?' goes the refrain. In reality, it is neither. Healthcare is a commodity--and a finite one at that. There are only so many doctors, hospitals, and, most important, money to go around. After all, every dollar spent on healthcare is one not spent on education, infrastructure, or defense.
Healthcare Is In The Eye Of The Beholder,
And Should Be In The Hands Of The Patient
Expectations of medical treatment can run up against physicians' opposing views and hospitals' rules. In dozens of states, laws allow doctors to unilaterally deny lifesaving treatments that they deem 'futile,' even if the patient or a surrogate decision maker wants care continued. Some people actually advocate this, as a way to ration healthcare -- limiting the resources available to sicker patients, to extend basic care to more healthy people
Healthcare Reform a Tough Sell in Town Halls Where Recession Has Hit Hardest
Most adults alive today have seen an increase in healthcare costs over the last few decades, but they've also seen advances like MRIs, PET and CAT scans, cholesterol, cancer, diabetes, and heart medications for their loved ones; and a concurrent jump in our expected life spans. Unlike, say, monetary policy, healthcare is something about which most Americans have a very strong opinion.
Why Obama's Failing Big on Healthcare Reform
Why does it cost
Health Reform Fattens Big Insurance and Taxes the Young
Insurers agreed months ago to clean up at least some of their hated practices, such as denying insurance for prior illnesses and canceling coverage when someone gets sick. In return, they stand to get some colossal plums: a mandate not only that every American buy health insurance but that the mandated insurance be "comprehensive," another word for expensive.
Obama Not Overexposed, but Flaws in His Healthcare Reform Have Been
From network reporters to online commentators, the story of the day about White House communications is that President Obama getting overexposed. That's why, media critics say, the President's approval numbers have dropped so low and his healthcare package isn't selling. But they are wrong. Something very different is happening, and it has to do not with style but with substance.
What is the Actual Number of Americans Without Health Insurance
The number of Americans without health insurance the Obama administration and Democrats have used for more than a year now ranges between 40 million and 46 million -- at the upper end, that would be somewhere between 1 in 6 and 1 in 7 Americans. So, how many Americans are truly uninsured?
Healthcare Giving Students Opportunity to Pay their Way through College
Many students are expected to lean on the healthcare industry for employment this year as the part-time job market sinks even further south. Lucky for them, a deluge of aging baby boomers drives one of the healthiest industries today. Seven of the 20 fastest-growing occupations are related to healthcare, according to government data.
The Next Steps for Kennedy's Cause: Healthcare Reform
Senator
Democrats' Fear Is Showing on Health Care
The Democratic Party is panicking, lashing out like a cornered animal, all because its effort to take over the health care industry is coming apart like so much wet toilet paper.
Nancy Pelosi, who will get her own bound volume in the annals of asininity, has outdone herself.
The Tea Baggers Are Back -- Crazy as Ever
In health care reform forums held across the nation organizers bus in professional protestors and arm them with instructions on how to take over meetings, shut down discussion, shout over any pro-health care reform speakers, and then post video of the resulting chaos on YouTube. It's mob rule, pure and simple
It's Not Polite, But It's Democracy
I have no illusions about those protesters at recent town hall meetings on health care. Some are fueled by angry conservative groups. Some are hopped up on radio hosts' rants and ravings. Some are Barack Obama haters. Some use one piece of wrong information to smear an entire event. And some -- maybe even most -- just think the whole idea of government health care stinks. But ...
Conservative bloggers, talk show hosts and House Republican Leader John Boehner, among other critics of Obama's health care plans, have been spreading the idea that the House health care bill promotes euthanasia.
Rationed Health Care Is Already Here
'Rationing' is one of the scariest words in the current health care debate. It conjures up apocalyptic nightmare images. What the scaremongers don't like to talk about is how much our private insurers ration now -- mostly for the sake of their own profits.
In terms of telling the American people and Congress exactly what he wants in the huge health-care reform he's seeking, President Obama seems determined to leave the fine print to Capitol Hill. That was one signal from his primetime news conference designed to rally public support for his principal domestic undertaking in social engineering.
Until we get some clear answers about the administration's national health insurance scheme, we're not about to let anybody pry that insurance policy out of our hands. Especially Nancy Pelosi. But if Madam Speaker will just keep on harping, there'll be little danger of that. She's got to be the most distrusted politician in the country. And the competition for that dubious distinction is something fierce.
Harem Scarem and Health Care Reform
As the battle lines formed around the Democrats' health care reform legislation, I expected Republicans to throw everything they had against it. But I didn't quite expect them to sink so low as to claim that under Obamacare ailing grannies would be killed off as soon as they become too expensive to care for.
Let us for a moment adopt the proposition that health care is in fact a 'right,' as pretty much every liberal politician has told us for at least a generation. Now let us consider how President Obama's proposed health-care bill would work. Under his plan, an official body -- staffed with government doctors, actuaries, economists and other experts -- will determine which health-care treatments, procedures and remedies are cost-effective and which are not.
What This Country Needs is a Huge Outburst of Common Sense
If ever there was a time for comprehensive health-care reform it is now, and yet the forces of darkness are lining up against this urgent need, buttressed by lies, mobs inflamed by those lies, and millions of dollars changing hands and changing votes in Washington.
Sebelius: Don't Sweat the Details
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote an op-ed column for The Washington Post recently in defense of the Obama administration's efforts to reform health care. She wrote: 'President Obama and I are working closely with Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate and health care experts to make sure we get the details of health reform right. But we can't let the details distract us from the huge benefits that reform will bring.'
Finding Health Coverage Before Medicare: A Primer
It's bad enough that your retirement savings are evaporating. But if you lost your job, retired early, or are turning to self-employment, you'll need to budget for health coverage. And the tab could be hefty. However, You do have options if you need to find insurance on your own ...
President Obama's Healthcare Reform Sales Pitch
President Obama's press conference to sell his health-care plan brought to mind nothing so much as the last time a car salesman urged me to sign on the dotted line right now, before I left the lot, because this was a great deal, time was of the essence, and wouldn't I like to add a few more expensive accessories on easy credit.
Medicare-Style Public Healthcare Option Would Kill Private Insurance
Let's be clear: Democrats are fundamentally right in their diagnosis. American healthcare in general, and health insurance in particular, lacks enough competition. But the government plan is bad medicine, pushing the country down the road toward socialized medicine on the installment plan. Here are a few ideas ...
Cash-Only or Direct-Pay Medical Practices
Cash-only and direct-pay medical practices are based on the idea that rather than charging higher, so-called retail rates for uninsured patients while negotiating discounted rates with insurance companies for covered patients, it's fairer -- and possible -- to offer flat and reasonable rates to all. Is a Cash-Only or Direct-Pay Medical Practice for America?
Flawed Healthcare Reform Is Better Than None at All
Progressives are grousing about healthcare reform. They have declared that a series of provisions must be included in any final overhaul of the nation's healthcare system or else they may torpedo the legislation. Roughly speaking, they argue that a "public option" and other items are a non-negotiable element of any plan. They should take a lesson from history ...
The Worst Health Care Reforms: What Can We Learn
The debate on US health care reform has been all about two opposing sides: 'more government' versus 'the free market.' Advocates of the former position tend to point to international examples of great health care systems, which presumably the point the way forward for our own reforms.
Will Health Reform Free Workers From 'Job-Lock'?
The job mobility of most workers shrinks in a recession, but for as many as 25 percent of workers, the freedom to move between jobs can be missing in high times, too. This is the working-world phenomenon known as job-lock -- when workers won't leave their jobs because they can't afford to lose their healthcare benefits. Some analyses suggest that healthcare reform could free up millions of job-locked workers to chase something new.
What Democrats Should Say on Healthcare
In the last few days, the House Democratic leaders called for a new message strategy to build public support for healthcare reform. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has heated up the rhetoric by describing the insurance industry as the "villains" in the piece. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters that the Democrats would develop a "more focused" message.
Health Reform Demands That Lawmakers Read the Bills
Senate Considers Alternative to Public Healthcare Option
Until recently, the healthcare debate has focused on a government-run insurance plan. But last week, that changed as word leaked that the Senate Finance Committee's bipartisan group of six senators, led by Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has chucked the public plan in favor of something else: healthcare cooperatives.
Congress, Obama, Must Do Healthcare Reform Right
AMA: Healthcare Reform Bill a 'Starting Point'
As Congress and President Obama square off over healthcare reform, one of the most prominent and widely courted voices in the debate is the American Medical Association, the country's largest physician organization.
Science Takes Doctors Only So Far
Imagine the day, envisioned by health reformers, when research about which treatments work best at the most reasonable cost boils medical decision-making down to a science. Doctors tap relevant information into their computers -- age, medical history, test results -- and presto! they get the best course of action.
Public Healthcare Option Won't Work
Government-Run Healthcare Plans Flawed
I share President Obama's goal of helping all Americans get the healthcare they need. I agree with what the president has said over and over during the campaign and since taking office: We need reform that will bring down healthcare costs, help everyone get quality care, and allow Americans who like the care they have to keep it. Unfortunately, many of the ideas floating through Congress, like creating a government-run plan, would ...
Public Option Would Ensure Healthcare for All Americans
Today, many Americans when choosing their healthcare plans are left with no choice at all. In many parts of the country, one dominant insurance company controls the market. When Americans are offered care by their employers, they still struggle to pay ever increasing deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. In the end, millions of Americans are left without health insurance. Millions more have coverage they can barely afford and that does not meet their needs.
Obama Rush to Overhaul Healthcare Shows Dangerous Deficit of Understanding
The administration and Democrats in Congress may be misreading the healthcare system they are trying to overhaul. President Obama has argued that such a revamp is needed for the nearly 50 million Americans uninsured each year. So who are these uninsured? They are not the poorest of the poor, who are eligible for Medicaid. According to 2007 figures from the Census Bureau ...
Hard Choices on Healthcare Reform
In the 1980s, if you had a heart attack and got to the hospital, you had about a 60 percent chance of living a year. Today, it is over 90 percent. We have been able to transform the health of the American public because of the rapid development of new medicines and technology. These innovations have come at a cost: They are responsible for as much as two thirds of the annual spending increases in healthcare. We'd like to get back to the costs of 1980, but nobody is willing to go back to 1980 medicine
Not Enough Healthcare to Go Around
We tend to talk about healthcare in the philosophically abstract. "Is healthcare a right or a privilege?" goes the refrain. In reality, it is neither. Healthcare is a commodity -- and a finite one at that. There are only so many doctors, hospitals, and, most important, money to go around. ...
Healthcare Reform's Effect on You
Some elements might change before a final healthcare bill is in hand, but enough common threads have emerged for people to look beyond the headlines for an idea of how the new healthcare system will affect them personally. For starters, consider these seven ways in which your healthcare experience is apt to change ...
Lack of Competition in Healthcare Insurance Market
Should healthcare reform include an option for Americans to buy insurance from the government? President Obama has made it a priority, arguing that a government plan would make the insurance market more competitive and help lower costs. Republicans aggressively oppose this, asserting that a public plan would all but destroy the private market.
Day of Reckoning at Hand for Health Insurers
President Obama and the Democratically-led Congress are rolling up their sleeves, sharpening pencils and trying to deliver health-care changes that cover many more people, provide a safety net for the rest of us and won't bankrupt our nation the way the current system most assuredly will
America's Hospitals Can't Afford Healthcare Cuts
Rich Umbdenstock is president and CEO of the American Hospital Association. We must not lose sight of the fact that we will need good healthcare policy changes -- not just payment cuts -- if we hope to find long-term solutions to the healthcare challenges vexing America: 46 million uninsured, an aging population, an epidemic of obesity and chronic disease and the need for a more coordinated system of care.
Uwe Reinhardt: Plain Talk on Healthcare Reform
If there were a Straight Talk Express for health economists, Princeton professor Uwe Reinhardt would be the engineer. Born in Germany and raised in Canada, Professor Reinhardt has personally experienced medical systems in different countries. Over the past 25 years, he has become a critical voice in the debate about reforming America's healthcare system.
Employers to Make Deeper Cuts in 2010 Health Coverage
Look for employers to cut more deeply than ever into health care coverage for their workers in 2010. Companies are getting walloped by higher than expected costs just when they can least afford it.
Healthcare Reform Estimates Have Democrats on Defensive
The inciting spark was the Congressional Budget Office's released of preliminary estimates on the costs of the two main Senate bills. Kennedy's was tagged at $1 trillion. The other, being developed by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, would cost $1.6 trillion.
More Competition in Health Care
On health care, we are, in short, paying more for less -- in a system that is so complicated, so multilayered that even those who can afford it find it impossible to negotiate. The status quo is no longer acceptable or affordable.
Ailments in Our Health Care Debate
As debate over President Obama's health care proposals kicks off, his opponents are lining up in a predictable way. On one side, conservatives call Obama a "socialist." On the other side, left-progressives wish that he were
When Healthcare Reform Hits Grandma
Obama has laid the groundwork for a massive overhaul of America's healthcare system into a more publicly managed, cost-conscious enterprise that focuses more on wellness than sickness. Driving most government outlays, however, are the many millions of Americans, particularly the elderly, with extremely resource-intensive chronic diseases.
However, what's tried and true, is the government's power to restrict reimbursement and change medical behavior. Medicare, which covers virtually all of the elderly, can say "No" to expensive treatments. That's great if the care is unnecessary. But you can't always tell if you're not at the bedside.
Government-run Healthcare Insurance Program Sure to Backfire
My fear is that creating a government-run health insurance plan wouldn't guarantee quality care by physicians -- in fact, it will not guarantee care at all. The quality of care in a government-run health plan may seem irrelevant to those individuals who are happy with the coverage they currently have -- after all, President Obama promised during his campaign that, "If you like the plan you have, you can keep it." But most individuals don't really have their own health coverage -- they get it from their employers.
Obama's Uphill Battle to Reform Healthcare
President Obama stood at a podium flanked by six healthcare leaders and announced what he called "a watershed event in the long and elusive quest for healthcare reform." Obama, by almost any account, had just scored what appeared to be a major concession from several of the country's biggest healthcare players.
Health care hinges on commerce clause - Daily Herald
Daily Herald
Health care accounts for 18 percent of the US economy and much of the business, including the sale of prescription drugs, takes place across state lines. The constitutional disagreement lies in the law's requirement that Americans get insurance or pay ...
MY VIEW, Randy Alford: Better information enables better health care - al.com (blog)
al.com (blog)
al.com (blog)
Many of Birmingham's leaders in the medical community came together recently to talk about these and other issues during the "Healthcare Leadership Summit: Redefining Value and Success in the Health Industry," hosted by IBM. Building a vision for the ...
New Trend In Healthcare Grants Access To New Patients Through Mobile Laboratories - TopWireNews (press release)
TopWireNews (press release)
These new mobile laboratories are poised to redefine an industry and make health care easier to access for under privileged communities that needs labs. A mobile lab serves as a fully functioning lab, and can be configured to suit any medical or ...
GE Healthcare and Philips Healthcare Commend FCC Rule for Wireless Medical ... - MarketWatch (press release)
MarketWatch (press release)
ANDOVER, Mass., May 24, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) and Royal Philips Electronics (aex:PHI) (NYSE:PHG) applaud the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today for its action allocating protected spectrum for wireless medical ...
FCC carves out spectrum for wireless body sensors due to gov't, industry ...
FCC gives green light to wireless medical devices
Emerging Wireless Medical Technology Gets FCC Blessing
Health care act would add jobs - Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa Times
By Claire Veyriras, California News Service WASHINGTON - California could gain up to 100000 jobs and $4.4 billion in economic spillover if the Supreme Court upholds President Obama's health care plan next month, according to a new report.
Health care hangs on court's views of commerce clause - San Antonio Express
San Antonio Express
Health care accounts for 18 percent of the US economy and much of the business, including the sale of prescription drugs, takes place across state lines. The constitutional disagreement lies in the law's requirement that Americans get insurance or pay ...
Even Vegas isn't betting on this
Encinitas Teens Learn about Drug Prevention while Exploring Health Careers - Patch.com
Patch.com
The Young Leaders in Health Care partnered with San Dieguito Alliance for Drug Free Youth for the educational event. By Marlena Medford Editor's Note: The following news release is from the San Dieguito Alliance for Drug Free Youth.
Louisville's Strategy For The Future: Stick With The Old Folks - Kaiser Health News
Kaiser Health News
Kaiser Health News
But few outsiders know it also hosts the largest concentration of nursing-home and extended-care companies in the nation. The city didn't start out with a central plan to win over the long-term care industry, says Ted Smith, Louisville's director of ...
Drugmakers vulnerable if US health law revoked - CANOE
StandardNet
CANOE
"There will be healthcare reform in America because the economic situation will require it sometime in the next 10 years." At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry is grappling with an unprecedented wave of patent expirations on top-selling drugs ...
DATAMARK Launches Healthcare Reform Readiness Survey
House plans two votes to repeal healthcare law before Supreme Court ruling
Mackinac Conference: Agenda highlights - Detroit Free Press
The Ann Arbor News - MLive.com
Detroit Free Press
Morning panels on "the business case" for early childhood learning; health care reform; design innovations that were key to the auto industry turnaround; former Utah governor and Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt speaks on health care ...
State officials to gather on Mackinac Island for annual conference
health care industry news - Google News
Google News